BRITISH star Dan Wheldon has been killed in one of the most horrific motor racing crashes ever seen.
Wheldon – a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 – was competing for a special $5million prize at the IndyCar championship’s finale in Las Vegas.
Cars were running in packs at 220mph when two touched and spun, setting off a shocking chain reaction involving FIFTEEN drivers.
Wheldon’s car was launched into the air off the back of another, flipped and smashed into the catch fencing above the retaining wall in flames.
The 33-year-old Briton — from Emberton, Bucks, but based in Florida — was airlifted to University Medical Centre in Las Vegas as what was left of his Dallara-Honda was covered in tarpaulin.
But the father of two, who scored a spectacular triumph at this year’s Indy 500, could not be saved and was officially declared dead at 3pm local time.